


Under Pressure

by CC2O2O



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at Humor, BAMF CC-2224 | Cody, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, With lots of, both need a break, but in an unconscious way, but science would hate me if it could read, i love science, plot as an excuse to get rex and cody underwater, rex is cool too, you want plotholes?, you will find them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26092099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CC2O2O/pseuds/CC2O2O
Summary: Cody didn’t like it from the start. They weren’t prepared for an underwater mission; they had no SCUBA troopers, no breathing tubes, and no beam rifles. So,of courseGeneral Skywalker immediately suggested going down there with a ship that wasmost definitely notdesigned for that.Or:Their Generals are pretty sure that going underwater with a spaceship to take out a hostile facility is a reasonable idea. This is, in fact, not a reasonable idea, but Cody and Rex are used to their Generals' madness and roll with it.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 87





	Under Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> important: this story contains a scene that covers drowning. it's not very explicit, but it's still there. if you ever made such an experience, i wouldn't recommend reading this story. 
> 
> apart from that: you ever want your favs to be happy but you also want them to suffer because that's how you get all the feels? no? just me? ah well

There were _so_ many things that could go wrong.

The 212th and the 501st had been fighting for a few hours by now, barely making any progress. Whenever they thought they could push forward into enemy territory, another troop of droids appeared seemingly out of nowhere. It was frustrating – the droids usually didn’t manage to update their strategies this effectively; it was like someone was rearranging the chessmen all the time, allowing the hostile troops to slowly encircle them.

And it had been _their_ idea to encircle the droids in the first place.

One of their tech specialists suggested to search the area for some sort of a data transmission facility; a communication center could act as a switch point to increase the data rate between the troops. And they did, in fact, track down such a facility – it was just _kriffing underwater._

Cody didn’t like it from the start. They weren’t prepared for an underwater mission; they had no SCUBA troopers, no breathing tubes, and no beam rifles. So, _of course_ General Skywalker immediately suggested going down there with a ship that was _most definitely not_ designed for that.

“Uhm, General – we still got a technical problem here.” Uneasily, Cody looked at the projection of General Kenobi and General Skywalker; the two Jedi had split earlier and now occupied different locations with their respective troops. Rex stood next to him; he and his men had retreated from their position and had joined Cody’s troops. “Spaceships are made to resist pressure from within, they weren’t made to withstand a tremendous amount of water.”

He saw Kenobi stroking his beard. _»The Republic Navy has designed shuttles to withstand various atmosphere pressures. It might be enough to dive a few meters underwater, especially considering that the facility isn’t too far below the surface.«_

_»How about the Nu-class attack shuttle? It’s not too big, likely sturdy enough to move through water, and the cannons don’t rely on any specific medium.«_ Skywalker added and Canny, one of the tech unit, started to nod thoughtfully. “This could work – the shuttle uses a fuel cell drive that should work underwater. But we have to monitor the diving depth at all times, otherwise we might reach the maximum operating depth and the shuttle cannot sustain the pressure anymore.”

Briefly, Cody looked at his brother, feeling uneasy. Rex seemed to share his concern; they both knew that there was no Nu-shuttle in their Generals’ reach and that they couldn’t just send one over. This left the captain and the commander since there was a shuttle in their proximity, and they were closer to the concerning waters, anyways. Cody tried suppressing a sigh.

Now wasn’t that just _great_. They were going underwater with a _kriffing Nu-class shuttle_.

It was settled, then. General Skywalker wished them one last _»Good luck!«_ (wonderful, even Skywalker felt the need to wish them luck, how very comforting) and the blueish projections disappeared. Cody and Rex looked at each other – there were so many sane Jedi out there and (of course) they had been assigned to the crazy double-pack.

“You think we can hand our Jedi back to the Order?”

“Absolutely not. No one wants them.”

“Including me.”

Rex chuckled – it sounded weary and Cody couldn’t blame him; they had never done something like this before (and he, Cody, had met a younger Kenobi with an even younger Skywalker back in the days. Sometimes he wondered how he had survived this long). Rex tried to sound unconcerned: “Guess we better get going.”

_Don’t exactly have a choice in that matter_ , Cody thought, even though he knew that he would have volunteered anytime – he wouldn’t send any of his men down there, not if he could prevent it. Before setting off, they contacted Boil and Jesse; the both of them should lead the troops in their absence. Rex and Cody tried ignoring their shocked expressions after telling them what they were about to do.

They entered the boarding area of the Nu-class attack shuttle and settled in the pilots’ chairs; it reminded Cody of their inspection tour of Republic outposts (except that they were, in fact, not going to space). Rex checked their communication channel, and after successfully receiving a message from Canny, they were good to go. The shuttle stretched its fold-down wings and took off the ground.

* * *

The shuttle lowered itself slightly the moment they had reached the waters, even though Cody didn’t exactly know how to dive into the water – contrary to popular (Skywalker) belief, he does, in fact, not steer submarines in his free time. The ventral side of the shuttle touched the surface as if they were landing on solid ground (except they were _not_ ). Cody stopped the engines. Now they simply had to wait for the water to swallow them completely. _Great_.

Canny reached them via comm. _»The facility is located approximately thirty-five meters below the surface. Don’t try to dive deeper than fifty meters and you should be good. Also, try not to get tracked down. The facility is made for communication purposes but is still most likely armed.«_

They were currently half a meter inside and Cody already wanted to leave the shuttle.

_»5 meters.«_

Water swallowed their ship entirely; when Cody looked through the front window; there was only water. He hoped he just imagined the aching sounds of their shuttle as they dived deeper.

_»15 meters.«_

Usually, he and Rex never stayed quiet when sitting next to each other; this time, however, there was complete silence. Which made the aching sounds of their shuttle just more evident. Cody wished Rex would tell him another story about General Skywalker tripping greatly while trying to pull off one of his many show-off stunts.

_»25 meters.«_

Daylight barely broke through now; the water was dark, glooming and absolutely _everywhere_.

_»You’re deep enough. Don’t let the shuttle sink further.«_

Ah, yes. Dark and glooming water everywhere and (of course) they had reached their destination. Cody reactivated the engines and the shuttle started to move slowly; they remained silent for a couple of minutes while Rex monitored their coordinates.

Then: “Codes, slow the shuttle down.”

They were already slower than an Eopie with broken legs but sure, Cody tried to slow their shuttle down. He looked outside of the front window; he didn’t know whether his eyes tricked him or not, but he saw a black dot somewhere in front of them. Rex looked at his display thoughtfully. “We’re probably already too close to the facility.”

“You have to aim _somehow_.” Cody pointed out. Nodding absently, Rex looked up again. “We should stay here. The facility needs to aim, too – we shouldn’t make it too easy for them.”

Cody felt like they had already handed themselves over on a silver platter, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“Don’t miss.”

“Did I ever?”

Cody barely managed to restrain himself from pointing out a few incidents in the past. Instead, he remained silent; their view was limited, and Rex mostly relied on their coordination system to aim properly. He needed to focus. There was a moment of complete silence.

Then, there were red flashes and muffled cannon shots. _But not from their cannons._

The shuttle’s cannons fired mere seconds later – but the facility had already detected them. Cody tried steering their ship upwards (it was too slow, it was a spaceship, _it wasn’t designed for this)_ , but one of their wings still got hit. There was a heavy jolt, the warning lights started flashing. _Their shields went down_. Cody barely had time to register that the facility was crumbling down and ceased fire (Rex hadn’t missed, after all). Their shuttle was still trapped in open fire – missiles that the facility had shot mere seconds ago still targeted them. Painfully slow, the shuttle moved upwards, until there was another crashing sound and another yank. Cody got flung forwards, his head collided with the console in front of him.

His vision got blurred, black dots appeared in his sight. Slightly dazed, Cody forced himself to keep his eyes open; he shook his head a little and blinked a few times. Once he regained a relatively sharp vision, he saw how the front window formed slowly growing cracks. _Not good._

“Rex?”

No response. _Really not good._

Cody moved, reaching out to the pilot’s seat in front of him. He grasped his brother’s shoulder and held onto it; he saw how Rex’s head shifted backwards, limply. There was blood on the console. Holding his breath, Cody searched for a pulse. _Don’t you dare leave me alone, don’t you dare-_

A pulse. A strong one.

Cody briefly closed his eyes, allowing himself to breathe again.

He looked at the console (the display was blank, barely any buttons were enlightened) and then through the front window, inside of the dark water surrounding them. Now he had to get them out of there, somehow. He fumbled on his comlink. “Canny?” No response.

The cracks were growing larger. Thinking fast, Cody weighted his options – they couldn’t stay, the shuttle was out of power. He looked in the direction of the surface again. _There was no other way._ Gritting his teeth, he reached for his helmet and put it on. Then, he grasped Rex’s helmet, only to discover a massive dent that made it impossible to wear.

This _had_ to be some sort of a cruel joke.

Without hesitation, he took off his helmet and moved a bit, so he could reach his brother more easily. Rex’s eyes were still closed, and there was blood dripping from a cut on his forehead. Gently, Cody put the helmet on his brother’s head – he hoped it would be enough until they reached the surface. The first crack broke open, and water sprinkled in the inside of the cockpit. Cody cradled Rex in his arms and took a deep breath.

Then, he reached for his blaster and shot against the front window.

Splitter of glass scattered around, followed by roaring water that poured in the inside of the cockpit. There was only water, tearing on Cody from all sides; it took all his strength to hold onto his brother and to stop himself from trying to breathe – and then, there was no room left, the water had filled the inside of the cockpit entirely. Kicking against the remains of the ship, Cody pulled himself and Rex out of the cockpit. His fingers fumbled on his jetpack, letting the stored gas emit.

They were moving upwards, not as fast as Cody would have liked, but they were moving. His lungs were already burning ( _don’t try to breathe, don’t try to breathe_ ). The water above them became lighter, more daylight shot through ( _don’t try to breathe, don’t try to breathe_ ). His body’s instincts kicked in ( _don’t try to-_ ) and he tried to breathe.

It felt like lava.

They shot through the waters surface, flying a few meters through the air. Cody barely managed to deactivate his jetpack. For a moment, it seemed like they were floating; and then, they were falling and eventually hit the ground ( _no more water, only solid sand_ ). His shoulder was aching, and his lungs were burning – but Cody, feeling dizzy, still dragged himself upwards. He felt his heart pounding, his breaths were coming fast and painful. He looked around; he didn’t remember letting go of his brother. Frantically, his eyes searched the waterside, until he finally discovered Rex only a few meters away from him.

Cody breathed out ( _it burned, it burned so much_ ). He would _most definitely_ punch Skywalker for his lunatic idea.

Then, he passed out.

* * *

The moment Cody woke up, he gladly observed that he wasn’t laying on sand anymore. However, he did not so gladly register that his lungs were still burning (even though it thankfully didn’t feel like he had swallowed lava anymore).

“Ah, Commander, finally waking up, I see.”

Ah, yes. General Jedi #2 he was _so_ going to hand back to the Order.

Cody groaned, feeling a slight headache coming. He absently noted that Kenobi sat down at the lower end of his sickbed, gently patting his leg.

“The medic called your condition a pulmonary edema, even though only a light one. You did a good job down there restraining yourself from breathing.” Kenobi paused, his facial expression revealing his concern. “How are you feeling, Cody?”

_Like a Drewback chewed on me and spit me out again_. Perhaps he could ask for an early retirement. He needed a break, Rex most likely, too. Abruptly, Cody’s thoughts came to a standstill. _Rex_. Setting himself upright, he looked at his General, his eyes troubled. “Where-… How’s Rex?”

“No worries, Commander,” Kenobi smiled slightly. “The Captain is fine, only got a pretty hard hit on the head. He woke up on the waterside and made sure to get as much water out of your lungs as he could manage. Even though I’d like to say that there wasn’t much water in the first place. Rex wanted to see you earlier, but Kix didn’t want to hear any of it. You know how terrifying he can be.”

Oh, yeah. Cody knew. He paused. “And the mission?”

“Neatly completed, only thanks to your work down there. We entered enemy territory the moment you took down the facility. Never saw so many confused droids in one place,” Kenobi chuckled slightly, even though it didn’t sound lighthearted. “However, as much fun as that was, I’d say we take a submarine with us the next time.”

Cody nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with this idea. He looked at his General; Kenobi’s expression softened, silently saying _‘I’m glad you’re still here’_. Slowly, Kenobi lifted himself again. “Well, I suppose I should leave you to your well-deserved rest, now. Before I leave, however, I should tell you that Anakin was rather troubled about you and Rex almost drowning, so be prepared to hear him turbulently apologizing when you enter the bridge.”

Cody raised an eyebrow. “His plan _did_ work – the shuttle withheld the pressure. He can’t control whether someone’s shooting missiles at us or not.”

“Reasonable words, Commander,” Kenobi stated, smiling slightly. “Save them for the bridge.”

With these words, Kenobi gave his commander a last reassuring nod, before he turned, leaving the medbay. Sighing, Cody let his head fall backwards and closed his eyes. Letting his thoughts wander, letting his subconscious take over-

“You _di’kut_.”

Ah, well. His subconscious wasn’t up for a pep-talk, then.

He opened his eyes again and, to his delight, saw a very exasperated Rex standing right next to his bed (he had probably snuck out of his own bed the moment Kix hadn’t been looking). The cut on his forehead had been treated and he looked tired, but aside from that he seemed fine. Cody furrowed his brow slightly the moment he saw his brother putting his helmet reproachfully next to his bed.

“Listen. We all have our own helmet. This is _your_ helmet. _You_ wear _your_ helmet, understood?”

“I would have worn my helmet if _yours_ hadn’t looked like a bantha had walked over it. Couldn’t let your unconscious-self swallow an entire pond,” Cody argued (even though he was all in when it came to Rex drinking more water. He really needed to stay more hydrated).

Rex groaned in frustration and slumped into the seat next to his brother’s bed. He looked tired – and Cody remembered what Kenobi had told him earlier. He had been unconscious when Rex had tried to get the water out of his lungs; it must have been a scary sight, not knowing how much water Cody had breathed in.

But it also demonstrated that they were a rather good team. Whenever one of them was unconscious, the other one was not. That was _definitely_ some effective work-sharing.

“Thank you. For getting me out of there,” Rex said, looking at his brother with a worn expression. Cody smiled slightly. “Couldn’t leave you there, _vod_. Besides, I’m glad you were with me at the waterside. Would have been rather embarrassing to drown _next_ to the lake and not _inside_ of it.”

Rex chuckled.

For a moment, they remained silent. Then, Rex looked at his brother, an amused smile on his face. “Oh, by the way, I think I should forewarn you. When you’re leaving the medbay, you most likely have some explaining to do.”

Cody raised an eyebrow.

“Everyone knows about the stunt we pulled off, and they keep wondering how we survived it. Kriff, _I_ don’t even know how we survived it. Since I was mostly out of it, they barely ask me anything,” Rex explained. “And that’s why they started speculating – I heard Wooley and Boil say something about you wrestling and riding a Firaxan shark to pull us back to the surface.”

Cody slowly breathed out.

_Oh, why the hell not._

“I think I’m okay with that.”


End file.
